In the field of data storage systems, access speed of a storage system is often a limiting factor of overall storage performance. For instance, current serial attached small computer system interface (SCSI) (SAS) drives may sustain approximately 300 IOPS (input/output operations per second), whereas current SATA (serial AT attachment) drives may sustain approximately 100 IOPS. Such speed limitations of SAS/SATA devices may cause a data storage system to quickly reach a maximum performance threshold, particularly in a WEB server environment, where the same data is typically accessed multiple times. Current SAS and SATA storage devices may incorporate a cache, which is confined to the enclosure. Thus, if one enclosure has a cache implemented, other enclosures may not have direct access to the data stored within the cache, thereby limiting utility of the cache to the particular enclosure. It may not be cost effective to implement a cache within each enclosure of a storage system, nor would such an implementation be particularly scalable.